Sprayed insulation is commonly used in the construction industry for insulating the open cavities of building walls, floors, ceilings, attics and other areas. Insulation materials, such as loose fiberglass, rock wool, mineral wool, fibrous plastic, cellulose, ceramic fiber, etc., that is combined with an adhesive or water, are sprayed from an applicator into such open cavities to reduce the rate of heat loss or gain there-though. The adhesive properties of the insulation mixture, resulting from the combination of the insulation materials with the adhesive or water, allow it to adhere to vertical or overhanging surfaces, thus allowing for an application of insulation prior to the installation of wallboard and similar cavity enclosing materials.
In applying sprayed insulation into open cavities, an installer typically holds an outlet end of the applicator towards the open cavity and then sprays the insulation and adhesive mixture into the cavity until the cavity is filled. To ensure that the cavity is completely filled, an installer typically sprays an excess amount of the mixture into the cavity such that an excess quantity (i.e. overfill) of the sprayed insulation has accumulated beyond an opening of the cavity defined by the cavity's confining boundaries, i.e. beyond the wall studs, floor or ceiling joists or other framing members defining the cavity. Such an excess amount or overfill is often necessary to ensure a complete fill of the cavity with the insulation mixture, thus minimizing the presence of gaps or voids therein and ensuring that the claimed thermal or acoustic performance, as specified by the manufacturer of the insulation product, is met.
However, to allow for the installation of wallboard, a vapor retarder or other surface materials over the cavity after receiving the insulation mixture, the excess or overfill insulation must be compacted into the cavity or removed therefrom to allow the surface materials to lay flush against the framing members. Excess insulation mixture located on the faces or outer surfaces of the framing members must be removed as well. The excess or overfill sprayed insulation mixture is thus removed or “scrubbed” from the cavity and faces of the framing members with a rotary scrubber to define an outer surface or boundary of the mixture at the cavity's opening lying preferably co-planar with the faces of the framing members.
The rotary scrubber generally comprises a hand-held device having a rotating, motor-driven roller assembly attached thereto. The roller assembly, typically located at a forward end of a framework of the device and comprising at least one cylindrical brush or textured roller, is driven to rotate by a motor and associated drive belt, also located on the device. The drive belt is in contact with the roller assembly via a pulley or channel defined in the outer surface of the brush or wheel. The rotating roller assembly preferably has an end-to-end length that spans or exceeds the width of a building cavity as defined by the framing members.
Thus, during the removal process, the rotating roller assembly is positioned against the faces of the framing members to span the width of the cavity. The rotating roller assembly is then pulled along the framing members, preferably in a direction about parallel thereto, such that an outer, textured surface of the cylindrical brush or roller contacts and scrubs the excess or overfill insulation mixture from the cavity and framing members, thus creating the outer surface or boundary of the insulation that is preferably co-planar with the framing members.
Although various textured rollers are presently-available for use with the roller assemblies of rotary scrubbers, such rollers suffer from various disadvantages. For example, presently-available rollers have a textured outer surface that is prone to clogging. Thus, as the textured outer surface of the wheel contacts the overfill insulation during the scrubbing process, the insulation becomes caught within the textured, outer surface, thus clogging the outer surface of the roller and negating the ability of the texture to further remove insulation. Also, such presently-available rollers typically utilize a textured, outer surface comprised of fibrous material having an absence of longitudinal edges that enhance the removal of spray-applied insulation material.
Furthermore, presently-available rollers are comprised of non-durable materials that are prone to premature wear, thus limiting assembly's life-span. As such rollers contact framing members during the scrubbing process, the frictional contact between a given assembly and the framing members result in a degradation of the textured, outer surface of the roller, limiting the assembly's life-span and again negating the ability of the texture to further remove insulation.
Thus, what is needed is a rotary scrubber roller having a textured, outer surface that is not prone to clogging. The textured, outer surface should include longitudinal edges that enhance the removal of spray-applied insulation. The textured, outer surface should also be comprised of durable materials not prone to frictional wear, thus extending the life-span and usefulness of the roller. This fulfills these foregoing needs.